Two development projects in 166su County, one in the Catawba District and one in the Hollins District, were greenlit during the county board of supervisors meeting Tuesday evening.
The 166su County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a 69-unit development by R.P. Fralin Inc. in 166su County along the border with the city of 166su.
A concept plan of the proposed development on Florist Road in 166su County, which the county board of supervisors unanimously approved after a public hearing Tuesday.
In January, 166su Valley Holdings LLC applied to rezone 11.68 acres, located between Florist Road and Williamson Road in the county, from high intensity commercial to multi-family residential. Plans submitted along with the application show six single-family attached units, 27 town house units and 18 two-family units, for a total of 69 units.
However, the applicant did not proffer conformance to the concept plan, meaning the final development could include any combination of single-family detached, single-family attached, town house and two-family units, so long as the number of units does not exceed 69, Philip Thompson, county director of planning, said.
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North asked R.P. Fralin President and CEO Robert Fralin when they would start building if the project was approved, to which he responded “immediately.”
“Your product is what’s needed in the marketplace, and we hope that you do build them as quickly as the plans can be approved,” North said prior to making a motion.
Robert Fralin, president and CEO of R.P. Fralin Inc., addresses the 166su County Board of Supervisors during a public hearing on Tuesday.
The county board of supervisors’ approval of the project came with a handful of proffers, some of which address what types of homes are allowed, how many dwelling units are allowed and what the homes will look like. Additionally, the development will be served by one new public entrance onto Florist Road, and there will be no new private driveways constructed onto Florist Road. The owner is also required to grant 166su County a 10 foot easement for a future sidewalk along Florist Road.
Additionally, the board voted unanimously to approve plans to build a four-story hotel on undeveloped parcels behind Caverns Market in the county. Located off of exit 132 of Interstate 81, Caverns Market is a gas station and convenience store close to Dixie Caverns.
No citizens spoke during the public hearing held Tuesday evening regarding the project.
In February, the owner of Caverns Market filed a request to rezone three parcels from low density residential to high intensity commercial. The parcels are located at 5709, 5755 and 5751 Fallbrooke Drive.
The concept plan shows 87 rooms and possibly a swimming facility. Access to the hotel will be routed via Fallbrooke Drive and internal connections to the Caverns Market site.
A concept plan of the hotel that is proposed to be built behind Caverns Market.
In August, 166su County submitted an application for SMART Scale funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation for a peanut-style roundabout at Dow Hollow Road, West Main Street and Fallbrooke Drive. Funding for that project was not approved. A traffic analysis by Balzer & Associates determined that the development will result in “relatively minor changes in delay and queue lengths” at the intersections, which have no traffic signals.
“This is really an interesting area, and I think it has a lot of potential economically for our future,” Supervisor Martha Hooker said. “I am discouraged, somewhat, that we didn’t win that SMART Scale funding.”
The 166su County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved rezoning requests for a hotel and a housing development in the county. Pictured from left is Supervisor Martha Hooker, Vice Chair Phil North, Chair David Radford, Supervisor Paul Mahoney and Supervisor Tammy Shepherd.
Hooker said that while the funding would have made the project easier going forward, she is hoping there’s some “temporary measures” that they can put in place to improve safety at the intersection.
County planning staff received emails about the project from 10 people, all of whom indicated that they are either members of the National Speleological Society or are in some way involved in cave conservation efforts. A common thread through all their emails was concern for how stormwater runoff from the development could negatively impact Dixie Caverns cave, the neighboring campground and local wildlife.
Chair David Radford inquired about the stormwater situation on the property.
“If the new development is going to utilize that ditch, we’re going to ask the developer to realign the ditch and repair it as a part of the development, if it’s going to carry additional water coming from the new development,” Tarek Moneir, county director of development services, said.
Chris Burns, the project’s engineer, said that the ditch will be able to carry the additional runoff from the development.
“Our site is about 2 acres,” Burns said. “There’s 2,000 acres draining to the creek below that ditch, and that’s really where the flooding and the eroding issues stem from.”
Plans included in the application show a possible retention pond on the property.
“I do have some concerns about the stormwater, but I’m going to directly ask staff to work with the petitioner on these issues, that we can best mitigate and continue to improve — certainly not worsen — the situation,” Hooker said before moving to approve the rezoning request.
